The Newmarket July meeting begins on Thursday, kicking off three fine days of racing at British flat headquarters.
GG tipster Joe Napier has four tips for the opening day. One of those runs in the big race, the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes, with best bets in the July Stakes and Henry Cecil Stakes too.
Newmarket Racing Tips (Thursday 9 July)
Newmarket’s July meeting gets underway with the Group 2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes as its centrepiece. We have a tip in that race against the favourite, as well as three others.
2.25 Newmarket – Adaay Of Scarlett (1pt win – 9/4)
Inner City Blues could be anything after a likeable debut at York in which he went off a very short price. His 4/9 odds that day, coupled with increasing sales prices since he was a foal, suggest he is talented, but Charlie Appleby and Godolphin have a poor record in this race over the past decade. He goes up against a proven performer here in Adaay Of Scarlett. The son of Mehmas won two of his first three races before a close second in Sandown’s Listed National Stakes. His form went to a new level when first upped to 6f though, as he was beaten just half-a-length in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. The winner did very well to win, but the selection ran a stormer in second and this trip clearly suits. Hugo Palmer’s charge faces just three rivals compared to 20 last time out and can take this surprisingly unsubscribed renewal.
3.00 Newmarket – Calico Blue (1pt e/w – 6/1)
Higher draws have much the best record in this 6f handicap. With only 14 runners, any in the second half of the field get immediate preference. Among those is Calico Blue, drawn in 9 for Roger Varian and Ray Dawson. Another runner at Royal Ascot, he finished fourth in the Palace Of Holyroodhouse Stakes behind runaway American winner Bacio. No horse stood a chance against the winner that day, but especially those drawn centrally or low. Calico Blue therefore ran a screamer in fourth from the wrong part of the track. He was second of the 20 in his group, but races here off the same mark. A step back up to 6f looks a positive move and Varian’s team are in form.
3.35 Newmarket – Convergent (1pt win – 2/1)
Rebel’s Romance has been a winning machine for many seasons and tends to mop up prizes like this. William Buick probably had to work harder than he would have liked when he won at 2/9 in Dubai back in February and his absence since could take a toll on a horse who is now eight years old. There is a big danger here in the shape of Convergent. The 2025 German Derby runner-up has gone from strength to strength since on decent going. His two flops have on soft ground, even if Epsom’s Coronation Cup going was officially good-to-soft. Otherwise, he has won twice at Group 3 level and once in a Group 2, with his latest win in the John Porter Stakes at Newbury being particularly impressive in how he finished off his race. He receives 3lb from Rebel’s Romance and that may way tell in favour of the four-year-old.
4.45 Newmarket – Wild Desert (0.5pt e/w – 6/1)
He has been off since last season, but Wild Desert looked like becoming a high class horse. A half-brother to two top level performers in Shadow Of Light and Earthlight, he won by five lengths on his career debut at Haydock. Despite a heavy odds-on reverse to a stablemate next time out, he was a close third in the Superlative Stakes over course and distance to follow that up. He was then sent to Woodbine, where he so narrowly lost a Grade 1 in Canada. A 299-day break raises questions, but he won so impressively on debut. As such, he should be fine fresh and looks well up to winning in Listed company and beyond.
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